Michael Hunt worked a lot of warehouse jobs at large companies, and he always came away feeling like a number, like what he thought really didn’t matter.
But right from his job interview at Advanced Window Systems LLC, Hunt formed a different impression. That first impression has proven true in his nearly two years as lead warehouse coordinator for the family-owned business based in Cromwell.
“You matter, and what you have to say matters,” Hunt said. “And working together with everybody, you see everyone’s importance. We all need each other for the company to grow.”
The employee-focused culture of AWS helped propel the seller and installer of home replacement windows, doors and siding to the number one ranking in The Courant’s Top Workplaces small-employer category. AWS has topped the category for two consecutive years and has been listed for three.
“When you have a culture that you’re doing the right things, then everyone feels good about it,” Mark LaVoie, AWS president and the second generation of his family to lead the company, said. “I believe that creates the start of a great culture.”
The company’s guideposts for knowing whether it is meeting its goal of doing the right things is embodied in its seven core values. They can’t that can’t be missed walking into the AWS office and warehouse on Alcap Ridge. They values are arranged to look like a house and stamped on the wall.
The core values are leadership, accountability, positive attitude, teamwork, growth, integrity and innovation.
“If we are going to do something, we always look at it, like ‘Ok, one of our number one values is integrity,’ ” LaVoie said. ” ‘Are we doing the right thing for the employee? Are we doing the right thing for the homeowners and the community? So, these are the questions we ask ourselves. Having great values and you’re doing the right things, the right things come back to you.”
LaVoie said he believes the company has an authentic culture of appreciation and gratitude, stressing what an employee is doing right and how that contributes to the company’s overall success.
Each month, the company recognizes outstanding work with “AWSome Awards,” one for performance and one for sales. The former is determined by a vote of employees.
In August, project coordinator Taras Lemekha, was recognized for taking apart and fixing a front door that wouldn’t open at a customer’s home.
“He demonstrated and represented our values,” LaVoie said.
AWS employs about 80, including 30 installers that work exclusively for the company. The company considers its market Connecticut and western Massachusetts, but its plans call for an expansion into the Boston area and beyond. AWS sells its own line of windows that a manufactured in Pennsylvania.
In the next five years, AWS expects its annual sales to rise from $20 million to $50 million, with its employees approaching 200, including installers. AWS already is thinking about needing more warehouse space, LaVoie said.
Those growth projections are a long way from the company’s humble beginnings in the late 1970s. Mark LaVoie’s father, Joe, started the business out of his house in Marlborough, selling replacement windows door-to-door. The windows were kept in a storage bin not far from the house before they were transported to customer homes.
In the years that followed, the company grew to occupy a warehouse in New Britain and later, a headquarters in Berlin.
LaVoie joined his father when he was 18, learning the business from the ground up — everything from customer service and unloading trucks to carrying windows and performing the actual installations.
LaVoie took over the day-to-day operations in 2017 and nearly four years ago, he assumed the responsibilities as president.
Ness Baracui, product coordinator, said AWS has given him the opportunity to advance within the company over the past four years. He started as an appointment scheduler and has subsequently been given more responsibilities. Baracui now oversees the ordering of what is purchased by customers.
“There is growth here, and there will always be growth here,” Baracui said. “Mark is very supportive of the growth in here and your own personal growth outside, and I think that’s really important.”
Baracui said his professional growth has translated into successfully taking on challenges in his personal life.
“I’ve gone through some personal things that I thought I was going to be defeated,” Baracui said. “And I’ve overcome them. So, it’s given me a bigger horizon that I can do things that I thought I couldn’t do before.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.